Thursday, October 30, 2008

After lunch in Eureka Springs on Sunday, it was time to head home. I had the good timing to hit the Buffalo River again before it got dark, and made a stop at Tyler Bend.

Tyler Bend is another great place along the river. And since its the easiest to access from Little Rock, I've been lucky to have floated this spot along the river a few times. On Sunday I was there just a few minutes too late, most of the light was fading away. I ran along the river to find a good spot to get pictures, eventually standing along a gravel bar with this view of the bluffs.

On my way back I saw this view, and wished I had seen it earlier. It would have looked nice with more light on it...

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

It was getting late in the day as we drove out of Boxley Valley. There were already cars parked along the side of the road, where people were setting up to catch a glimpse of the elk. We did see one elk grazing in a field far from the road. But we continued on towards our next destination, Steele Creek.

This is a great place along the Buffalo River, a camping area with access to some of the most spectacular bluffs along the river. As we drove down into the valley, the sun was pouring in and bathing the bluffs with light. The reflection in the river was awesome.

A deer set out and crossed the river across the above view. This was surprising because it was heading towards a lot of people standing along the river. I tried my best to get a shot, but they were all a bit blurry. But it was a cool site to see.

Steele Creek flows into the Buffalo River here, but it was running low enough that you could just jump over it to reach the other side. It is easy to walk along the riverbank, and looking back provided more great views...

A small set of rapids sit where the river bends, and it was hard to not keep taking pictures out there. In fact it was difficult to find a place to point the camera since it was quite scenic all around us.

I would have happily sat there for the rest of the day, but it was time to move on. But not before snapping just a few more shots while the light was good...

This ended our day out at the Buffalo. From there we headed up to Harrison for dinner. But on my way back home the next day I had time for one more stop along the Buffalo River...

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

I love the Buffalo River. If I had my druthers I'd move there in a hearbeat, just living in some remote shanty as long as it was close to all the scenic stuff out there. Of course that shanty would need electricity, running water, and nearby access to a good job. So until then, I'll just have to make do with making the long drive up there when I can.

So last Saturday we set out to visit Hawksbill Crag, a neat place in the Ozark National Forest that sits just beyond the boundary to the National River. The crag is a stunning rock outcrop that shoots out 100 feet over the wilderness below. It sits at the end of a 1.5 mile long hike, which is reached via a sometimes very steep dirt road that starts out in Boxley Valley.

We made the drive up there, and found the trailhead parking lot to be packed with cars. Apparently we weren't the only ones with the bright idea of hiking this trail on a nice autumn day. Cars were jammed into any free space along the road, and we eventually found a place to park along the side of the road. We immediately saw where a lot of the cars were from, a large group of maybe 40 people were finishing the hike when we reached the trailhead. But the hike would be packed with people for the rest of the day.

The trail starts out heading downhill, and we passed a registraion station where someone had left some odd graffitti.We weren't panicking, but thanks for the warning...

The fall colors in this part of the Ozarks were nice, but still not quite at their peak.

The trail evens out and begins to run along the bluffline. Beyond you have miles of wilderness, with few traces of man's impact there.

As with all my other attempts at getting pictures this fall, it was another sunny day. I would have loved some clouds, or fog, but it was a nice day anyways. Eventually the trail reaches a small outcrop with a large tree growing on it. It is a neat tree, growing on the exposed rock with a spectacular mountain view to enjoy. The tree was bent and weathered, and it holds a lot of personality.

And the tree's view, which isn't too shabby:

We managed to have the great timing to be right behind another large group of hikers. Now remember that this trail runs along a very steep bluff that would be easy to stumble off of if you aren't careful. I was a bit surprised to see some of the hikers in this group carrying cans of beer with them. Beer just doesn't seem to be a good combination with a place where a fall would be fatal. But they were carrying their empties out with them, so good for them.

The large group sat out on the crag posing for pictures, so we waited at another overlook for them to finish. I wanted to get some pictures of the bluff without any people on it, so we had to wait for awhile. While we were sitting there, we started talking with another group of photographers only to find out that they are also members of Flickr. It's amazing what a small world it is.

I began to get annoyed with the large group of hikers occupying the crag. They were being a bit obnoxious. But I'd later find out that the group hiked out there in honor of a friend who had recently passed away, since it was his favorite place. They stood out on the crag and yelled out his name in his honor (at the time I was trying to figure out what they were saying). So I can't really get too annoyed with them, they were out there for a good reason.

But when they finally left, the crag was clear of people.

After that an unspoken agreement was made with people out there. Hikers wouldn't set out on the crag while people took a few minutes posing on the rock. I accidently broke it and unknowlingly strolled out onto the rock to take pictures, only to be chastised by my Aunt for getting in the way of someone's picture. Sorry!

But here is another view of Hawksbill Crag, which has been said to be the "most photographed natural feature" in the state of Arkansas. I'm not sure if that's true. I'd bet Pinnacle Mountain or Petit Jean Mountain get more pictures taken, but who's keeping count, anyways?

From there we made the hike back out to the trailhead. After reaching the car we made the drive back down into Boxley Valley and onto the next destination, Steele Creek...

Thank goodness gas prices have gone down, since I used up a full tank on another drive to the Ozarks. My destination this time was Berryville, where my Aunt lives. It is a great starting point for visiting one of my favorite places, the Buffalo National River. We spent Saturday exploring a few great places around there, enjoying the nice fall color (more on that later).

But I got there in time to meet my Aunt at the local high school football game, where she was taking pictures. I met her on the sidelines at halftime and tried to get a few shots of the game too.

Another Aunt and my cousin drove up that night too, so the next day we set out to the Buffalo. I'm still going through all those shots, but here is a preview of how it looked on Saturday:

Friday, October 24, 2008

From Gunner Pool, I drove just a few miles to the east towards Blanchard Springs. This place is a busy spot in the Ozark National Forest, where many people take the tour into the caverns to explore all the cave formations there. I've only taken the tour of the caverns once, when I was a kid, but have taken many trips up here since then to explore the area where the springs make a nice little waterfall.

During the Depression, the CCC built a dam along the creek formed by the springwater. The dam was built next to the ruins of an old mill, and I headed down to that area for a few pictures. The mill was a two-story building made of oak and hikory that operated from 1900 to 1928. The mill was partially rebuilt by the CCC in 1942, and thier work remains to this day.

A boardwalk stretches out along the hill above the mill, which gives some nice views of the creek below.

There is a trail that you can take from the boardwalk, which takes you down to the creek and the mill ruins. I managed to slip only once on a wet rock, and made it to the dam. Since this is fed by a spring that runs year-round, it is one of the few places in the state that you can find waterfalls any time of the year. I set the camera up near the dam, and got this shot of the many waterfalls that tumble and fall by the base of the dam.

And here is a shot of the old mill, in an area filled with poison ivy.

And one more shot of the boardwalk...

There is a small walkway that extends out towards the dam. I'd guess it was put there for people to fish from. But it does give a nice place to take pictures of the waterfall streaming off of the dam.

From there it was just a very short drive to the Blanchard Springs trail...

The trail is very short, and ends where the springs shoot out in a neat little waterfall.

The water is amazingly clear, and there are tons of mossy rocks along the creek.

Although the water looks to be clear, it isn't all that clean. Before it shoots out of this waterfall, it passes by a few caverns that are the homes of several bat colonies. With the bats, you also get bat waste, so the water is contaminated with poo.

While out there, I managed to drop my lenscap in the water. Luckily it didn't get caught by the current, but I did have to fish it out of the water. I did try to disinfect it the best I could when I got home.

It was starting to get too dark to take pictures, so I was only able to get a few more shots before it was time to head home.

The fall color should just be peaking this weekend, so it'll be another good time to take another road trip to the Ozarks...

Thursday, October 23, 2008

I happily took Monday off from work, and again set off to the Ozarks to try to catch some fall color. I had assumed the color would be farther along when I put in the vacation request, but I was looking forward to visiting a few great places. The first stop was Gunner Pool, along Sylamore Creek. A small dam built by the CCC during the Depression makes the pool, and there some neat low bluffs along the creek.

I had never been there before, and saw what I had missed all these years. It is beautiful little area. I did manage to get slightly lost, so I didn't have enough time there as I would have liked.

This is the small lake behind the dam...

A walked along the water to the dam, then slid down on a little trail to the creek. I was surprised to see this little waterfall running. In the background is the dam, which also had a waterfall streaming down it too.

And another shot of the waterfall...

I totally missed some other neat places at Gunner Pool, so I'll have to head back up there. But I was in a hurry. I was worried about having enough time at my next spot, Blanchard Springs...

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

After finishing the Pedestal Rock hike, there was one more nearby attraction - Falling Water Falls. Those falls might seem familiar to the few regular readers of this blog, this trip will be the third time I've been to Falling Water Creek this year. And the fourth time this year that I've been to the Richland Creek/Falling Water Creek area. But the falls are awesome, and just a short drive from Pedestal Rocks. We were in the neighborhood, why not make a quick stop?

We took a different route to the falls, visiting a few new locations. At one point we passed by a small pond that seemed to be filled with the reflection of a nearby hill. We stopped the car in the middle of the road and went to investigate further. The road is a dirt road located pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so we didn't think there would be much traffic. But as soon as Zack stopped the car and got out, a van appeared out of nowhere and impatiently waited a minute or so while the road was cleared. The driver had a slightly pissed-off look on his face. We would run into him a bit later when his van was randomly parked in the road, and we had to wait for him to get of the way.

But here is a shot of the pond. It looked much cooler in person, the picture doesn't do it justice at all.

Further down the road we came onto this old house and barn. It didn't look like anyone was at home, so we got out and took a few picture of the barn. I always get worried about stopping at places like this, since the people living there might not be too happy about people taking pictures outside of their house and rush out to greet us with shotguns or something.

We made it to Falling Water Falls, a great waterfall located just off the side of the road. There wasn't all that much water in the falls, but enough to make a nice waterfall anyways. But the fall color was coming along nicely up there...

The sun had dropped below the hills, meaning we had perfect light for taking waterfall pictures. I hurried and slid down to get as many shots of the falls as I could.

There was a nice carpet of fallen leaves along the shore...

I was surprised that there weren't more people out there, the falls are a popular place. Just one other car stopped by when we were out there. A family got out and stood at the top of the falls, peering over the ledge towards where I had sitting with the camera. It is amazing how little time people spend out at these places (or how long photographers stay there). But with the way clear I was free to take a few more pictures.

The benefit of the lower water was that I was able to hop across a few rocks to the opposite shore of Falling Water Creek, an area that I hadn't explored before. There is another way to reach this spot, but it requires going down a makeshift ladder down a tree by the falls. I've been a wuss and reluctant to try that, always imagining that one of the wooden planks would give way and send me and the camera falling into the creek or onto a pointy rock (or an unfortunate combination of both).

But there is a neat overhanging bluff there, giving a nice frame to the falls.

From there I strolled over and got this shot looking out from under the falls...

And a few more shots of the falls...

There is a neat area just downstream from the falls, where the creek cascades and tumbles over a series of rocks. It is hard to turn your back to the falls, but this view was nice also.

By then it was getting too dark to get shots. We had intended to try to hit Six Finger Falls along Falling Water Creek, but ran out of time. So reluctantly we headed to the car and started on the drive back home. I had hoped to make it back in time to catch a soccer game, but would end up getting back home in time to catch the second half. Given the result, it would have been better to have spent more time in the woods.

So this concludes our shots from an awesome Saturday in the woods of the Ozarks. Luckily for me, I had taken Monday off from work, and set off again to the hills for some more quality time with a few waterfalls...